Oil based plastics & their role in waste pollution are undeniably one of the most prominent problems facing our planets ecology to date, it affects all of us and our future on this planet. While we and our industries now rely on them for various uses, we must ask ourselves whether the damage we are causing out weighs their necessity and also whether the financial costs of making the change are viable. I would hope every single person would quickly and clearly say that in the case of most plastics, the answer is *Yes*. So what can we do?.....There has been a solution and an alternative for a long time: bio-degradable plastics made from hemp cellulose. We aim to get legislation passed that all plastics where possible are replaced with 100% biodegradable plastics & the use of oil based plastics reduced to the most necessary of uses such as HDPE plastics for industrial purposes. This does not mean that we can just sit back and relax, the biodegradable plastics will still require diligent collection and the correct conditions to degrade. This change should be made along side methane capture projects to ensure the methane given off at all landfill is captured and used as an energy source and not just left to escape into the atmosphere. Whilst traditional plastics take a long time to decompose and release harmful toxins into the ground, hemp plastics do not. They do however release methane, which we must be vigilant of - but as stated above this also opens up possibilities in methane capture and re-useable energy. Increased recycling availability (especially near the coast) will be paramount, as will clear identification of biodegradable plastics but this small step will have a great impact for the planet we live on, as well as our future generations. On top of that the increased growth of hemp will have a substantial impact on reversing the effects of deforestation and open up a whole new industry for hemp use in 100's if not 1000's of applications, reducing our reliability on crude oil. Win Win Hemp was once our greatest and foremost industrial crop for thousands of years, it is only in the last few centuries that it has declined in the U.K. And USA especially, due to its affiliation with marijuana and outdated drug laws. Let's work together and make the world a better place 💚

We all know about the plastic clogging up our oceans and killing our sealife, we have been campaigning for the bottle deposit scheme which is great, but lets push this forward and tackle the big supermarket packaging companies. When i look in my recycling bin and rubbish bin, the waste makes me so sad, from packaged grapes, to bagged carrots/ or shrink wrapped broccoli/ bananas, even mushrooms, what happened to the paper bag and picking your own. I buy organic for health and environmental reasons but it is the worst for packaging which i feel is totally wrong. I went to Sainsbury's the other day and bought 2 pastries from the bakery, the lady said "i should let you know, you can buy 2 off the shelf cheaper, in the plastic boxes, they are exactly the same" i said " but they come in a plastic box and here in a paper bag how can those be cheaper." " I dont know i just thought i should let you know" said the lady. This seemed totally mind boggling to me, the waste we are producing without a thought, and its the cheaper option! so i call out to these supermarkets to combat this issue, if Germany can have a zero waste supermarket across all departments then we can surely begin to use bio-degradable packaging if zero waste is too difficult! let us go back to helping ourselves and popping it in a paper bag. But i don't want to stop here, we bought in the 5p bag scheme which made a massive difference now we should demand that those bags are bio-degradable too. and then i want to make sure it is law that ALL packaging is being bio degradable, from buying your tv, to your clothing there are companies out there and at the moment it is a choice whether we use polystyrene or the eco alternative, but i believe it should now be law. there is no excuse for contaminating our seas and land.

Most other councils countrywide have a plastic recycling scheme which benefits the environment greatly and as most of you know plastic takes hundreds if not thousands of years to biodegrade. With so many recyclable plastic cartons and bottles going into household waste every week it's disappointing to see that Rotherham Council have yet to catch up with the rest of the country in finding an initiative to collect recyclable plastic like they have for metal, glass, paper and garden waste. Further to this the infrastructure is already in place to recycle plastic with numberous recycling plants in the surrounding area and local councils such as sheffield already implementing a more environmentally friendly scheme. So with enough support we can petition Rotherham Council to take this issue seriously and serve a much needed facility to their constiuents.

I have lost two cats to antifreeze poisoning in a space of three months. The violent reaction they both had to the chemical was horrific. Both lost their vision and went into shock causing them to suffer aggressive seizures. Antifreeze causes blindness. Within minutes all vital organs begin to shut down. This causes the most unimaginable suffering. The only humane option is to euthanise should an animal ingest antifreeze/coolant. Please petition the relevant bodies so this needless suffering can be averted.

I have personally been knocked off my bike on this roundabout. I feel lucky to be alive. The police could not find the person who did this and the council say they are not willing to put any control measures in place. (because the layout is due to change in 2 years) More recently a good friend got knocked off her bike at the same location. We have since found out several other cyclists have fell victim to hit and run drivers at this same spot. Soon enough a life will be taken. I feel my suggested control measures are easily done. Personally I would like cameras to be added and speed bumps however I want to be realistic. Halton try to promote cycling which is really good for our environment however I feel in this case they have not done enough to put some preventative measures in place.

There is NO evidence that culling badgers makes any meaningful contribution to reducing the levels of bovine TB in cattle. The Randomised Badger Culling Trial, an 8-year, £50 million study during which 11,000 badgers were killed, produced no evidence of benefit. It found that only 1.67% of those 11,000 badgers had communicable bovine TB. The real culprits are not badgers but an outdated and inaccurate testing regime (missing 20-50% of all cases in cattle), poor biosecurity on farms, and millions of movements of cattle around the country. This year, DEFRA wants to see 33,000 badgers killed and Waitrose/Duchy have agreed to culling on their land in the west country. Two-thirds of the public are against badger culling and, as customers of Waitrose and John Lewis PLC, we call on the company to respect the science and to honour the views and feelings of their customers.

We are requesting that Leicestershire County Council make changes to their street lighting policy to keep our street lights on throughout the night. Everyday, after midnight, our streets are plunged into darkness. This has increased the incidence of crime including house and car burglaries within the area. As residents of Oadby Grange, we feel that switching certain street lights off after midnight, results in extremely vulnerable areas that are targeted as they are totally unlit. In addition to the actual increase in break ins, the part-lighting scheme, also poses a huge risk to the well-being and safety of residents. With many residents being shift workers including hospital doctors, nurses, police officers etc, it places these individuals at great risk when entering their homes late at night in complete darkness especially since many of whom would be fatigued after working a long, late shift. As residents, we can supply a series of personal CCTV footage displaying such crimes, specifically in these unlit areas, to support our claim. It is not safe for us and we have had enough of living in fear! SWITCH ON OUR STREET LIGHTS!!!

This would enable new drivers to understand the benefits and vulnerabilities of being on a bicycle, improving road safety for everyone. It would also improve the skills and awareness of those adults most likely to cycle on urban roads at peak times. Thirdly, it would enable many more people to experience cycling as an adult and encourage them to see the opportunities it presents for clean, cheap and easy transport.

Brighton & Hove is a coastal city, meaning it must be on the frontline when it comes to tackling plastic pollution in our oceans. As 80% of marine litter originates from land, Brighton & Hove must do everything possible to stop this pollution at source. In 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated that by weight, there could be more plastic in our oceans than fish, as soon as 2050. Plastics are durable, strong and long-lasting – all positive elements until you realise that they will stay in our environment for up to an estimated 600 years. (Columbia University) Over 300 million tons of new plastic are made every year – half of which is for single use plastic, such as packaging and convenience foods. In many cases, such as plastic straws, takeaway food containers and coffee cups, there are practical alternatives available that are either reusable or sustainable. It is estimated that there are over 5.5 trillion pieces of plastic currently in our global ocean and over 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our seas each year. This equates to one refuse truck FULL of plastic every minute. Marine plastic leads to coastal / offshore dead zones, entanglement, death through ingestion, toxic transfer and, once degraded into microplastics, contamination of the food chain – including our own. We are quite literally eating the plastic that has ended up in our seas. Sign this petition so we can persuade the council to act on the issue of single-use plastic waste.

Britain drinks 165 million cups of tea a day. Council food waste composting schemes recommend composting teabags. The plastic layer within the bag will break down when composted and has the potential to enter the food chain and damage the environment. The 2007 paper 'Microplastic—An Emerging Contaminant of Potential Concern?' Dr M Browne, T Galloway, and R Thompson states "Organisms with a range of feeding strategies can ingest and accumulate microplastics." Section 41.6.8 of SOIL ASSOCIATION ORGANIC STANDARDS (AUGUST 2016) states: To minimise the direct and indirect environmental impacts of your packaging during its life cycle, you must: minimise the amount of material used, maximise the amount of material that can be reused or recycled, and use materials with recycled content where possible. Surely where teabags can be made using a string-and-tag system, this would mean that they should be in order to meet the requirements for organic certification?

The park was once a beautiful spot but it is in danger of becoming a silty swamp. The more run-down it gets, the worse people treat it, despite the efforts of the community and supporters within the SDC. Paths aren't repaired, which has rendered one part of the park inaccessible to lesser abled people and dead and dying trees, overhang the lakes. Leaves are not cleared up, apart from by the local community, which causes flooding onto the paths in autumn and winter and stops locals using the amenities. The park is a space that should be restored for all to enjoy, not left to decay.

Instead of trying to guilt the users, why not require manufacturers to make these useful items bio-degradeable? There are those of us with medical problems (colo-rectal issues) for whom wet wipes have been an absolute Godsend. But in these cases it would not be possible to dispose of them in domestic waste as they are akin to common toilet tissues. Bio-degradeable versions would be an obvious answer. Surely the manufacturers could be encouraged or even required to develop a sewer-friendly version rather than keep blaming the users.